Our computers get full and cramped just like our closets do. Give your computer a little attention today. If the thought of cleaning out your computer makes you cringe we can ease the anxiety. It doesn’t have to be a full-day affair.
Get An External Hard Drive
External hard drives are pretty inexpensive and can hold a lot of data. Plug one into your computer and back up all your files. Purging will be faster and you’ll be more decisive if you know everything is backed up. If we could only use this technique when clearing out a closet… sigh.
Photos
If you back up your photos and remove them from your computer you’ll likely free up lots of space. But there are usually many photos we truly don’t need. Like the photos that are out of focus, too dark or when your eyes are closed. Just like those jeans that no longer fit or make you feel good. Purge the pictures that don’t flatter you.
Email
Email is the worst and probably the most challenging to organize. The constant influx of mail makes it seem like a hopeless task. But it doesn’t have to be.
Chances are you get lots of junk mail. We always recommend unsubscribing from emails you no longer want to receive but if time is tight we have another option. Sort your emails by name, subject, date, or search using a keyword. This gives you a large chunk of emails you can delete at once. It’s oddly satisfying. Like throwing away all the old coupons and mail piling up in your kitchen.
Expiration Date
Do a search by date for all files on your computer. Decide how far you want to go back and delete files. We like to delete files that are at least 1 year old or 6 months old if we are feeling confident. This mimics throwing away the food in your pantry that has expired. It’s a quick purge since the date is the indicator.